Brad Barkey’s column (Herald, Nov. 11) on Colorado’s Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) contained significant amounts of misinformation.
I commend Barkey for his service to our country as a Marine, but his unfounded words do a deep disservice to the hundreds of thousands of PERA members currently policing and plowing our state highways, teaching our children and serving Colorado in countless other ways.
Foremost, Barkey incorrectly uses the charged terms “bankruptcy” and “going broke” throughout his column. The unfunded liability he refers to is real, however, the plan is not in danger of going bankrupt anytime soon. Recognizing the unfunded liability, PERA has proactively released a plan to address the shortfall. Next, Barkey’s plan calls for all new hires to be placed into a defined-benefit plan, “such as a 401(K).” The Colorado Office of the State Auditor published a report in response to Senate Bill 14-214 in June 2015 stating that if Barkey’s advice is followed, Colorado taxpayers would need to pay nearly $16 billion to fund such a transition. Barkey omitted this huge cost.
In contrast, the PERA plan, if adopted by the Legislature in 2018, allows the funding source for PERA to become sustainable while PERA becomes resilient to future demographic and market changes. Colorado PERA is nonpartisan, serves all Coloradans in numerous ways and should be applauded for its ability to efficiently deliver solid benefits for the least amount of taxpayer money.
Dave Dillman
Durango
